Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
THERON
“I have a list.”
I wasn’t interested in any list when my hot mate—and he was literally hotter than any other human, with a baby dragon nestled inside him—was beside me and brushing his beautiful pregnant belly against my skin.
“Mmmm. That’s great, treasure.”
“Oh, you.” He whacked me with a cushion. Even though he’d told me he wasn’t fussed about my using that pet name, I was pretty sure he liked it because his mouth turned up when I used it, and he wriggled his ass.
That name is very dragon-coded.
I didn’t ask my beast how he understood “coded” anything, but he was right. Dragons in the wild protected what was theirs with their life, and my beast and I would do the same for Ledger.
My mate held up his phone that had sixteen items on the list. I’d done this three times, and half the stuff the blogs, books, and social media said were must-haves were absolutely not-haves.
But this was Ledger’s first baby, and I refused to snatch that joy from him. No matter how much money it cost or the time it took. And I’d love every minute of it. And so would our kids because they were coming too.
“Daddy, Dad, hurry up.” Fraser was at the door beckoning us.
“Oh, right.” Ledger took my arm, and we headed outside. “We can’t have all those other prospective parents swarming the store and buying up all the baby paraphernalia.”
“They might.” Skye climbed into the back seat, and I buckled her in.
“Don’t worry, pumpkin.” Ledger patted her leg before getting in. “I won’t let them.”
My mate read off the items on his list. “We obviously need a car seat and bassinet. Our baby needs somewhere to sleep.”
“Can the baby sleep with me?” Skye hugged her doll who did sleep beside her every night.
“Your new brother or sister will love you, but they’ll be too tiny to sleep in a big girl bed.” I glanced over my shoulder at our daughter. “Maybe when they get a little older.”
“We need heaps of diapers.” Ledger put his hand on my thigh. “Lots of changing poopy diapers in our future.”
“Ewww.” The kids put their hands over their ears. I didn’t point out how often I’d wiped poop from their baby butts.
A crackling and crunching from the back seat alerted me that one of the kids had brought snacks.
“Can I have one of your chips, Fraser?” Ledger put his hand between the seats.
“Is the baby hungry, Dad?” He took a handful of the snack and gave it to my mate.
Ledger rubbed his belly. “The baby gets everything they need from me, but I love salt and vinegar chips.”
We’d piled out of the car and into the department store.
I checked our children were wearing their bracelets.
This shopping expedition could be overwhelming for them, and Ledger was struggling with swollen angles and a sore back.
I didn’t want to add setting the store alight as a highlight of our day.
“Where do you want to start?” I asked.
“Let’s get the car seat because that’s the most important.”
“Right.” I herded the children in the right direction.
“Do babies like car seats?” Rory skipped toward the elevator.
“You didn’t. You yelled whenever we put you in one.”
“Whaa, whaa.” Our eldest made fists and held them up to his eyes and pretended to cry.
Fraser made a face and put his hands over his ears.
“My baby can sit in the seats.” Skye held up her doll.
We spent an hour in the car seat section, and the sales assistant brought a chair for Ledger. Fraser didn’t like the black ones, and that eliminated most of them. Skye insisted her doll had to give her a sign before she approved one, and Rory read the labels about the car seat safety ratings.
When we finally settled on a red one, neither Ledger nor I checked the price. We wanted this done. But as I was paying, my mate looked around and asked where Fraser was.
“Sit and I’ll find him.” I placed the car seat beside him. “But don’t let this out of your sight.” I couldn’t go through choosing another one again.
Taking my oldest and youngest with me, we searched for my middle child. We found him in the toy department holding a stuffed pink dragon half as big as him.
“Don’t run off again, buddy. Dad and I were worried.”
“The baby needs this." He clutched it to his chest. “From me ‘cause I love the baby.”
I knew what was coming if I agreed, but I said yes. He whooped and dragged it along the aisle to the cashier. But Rory and Skye had to choose a present too, and I sent Ledger a message, telling him to stay put.
The baby ended up with a monster truck from Rory and a pumpkin wind-up toy from Skye.
“Let’s get the bassinet and some size zero clothes. I’ll order the diapers online.” My mate yawned as I helped him out of the chair where he’d been dozing.
We chose the bassinet easily while the kids were distracted by the toys they’d bought for their new sibling.
The sales assistant kept pulling fleece onesies off the rack, saying how soft and warm they were, and I kept putting them back.
“We need cotton,” I explained. “The baby has a skin sensitivity.”
She eyed Ledger’s belly, but on glancing at my don't-ask-follow-up-questions face, she said nothing. It was the face I'd used when the previous au pair agency candidates had asked about the scorch marks.
“The cotton section is over here.”
The woman got my mate a rolling chair, and he trundled between the aisles of clothes. But he planted his feet on the floor and placed a hand on his belly.
“The baby’s awake.”
I kneeled on the floor beside him as the kids charged toward their dad. All three of our children had their hands on Ledger's belly.
“The baby can play football with me.” Rory mimed kicking a ball up and down the aisle.
“This is for you, baby.” Fraser held up the fluffy dragon.
Skye nestled her doll atop my mate’s bump as an elderly woman walking past stopped to say how beautiful our family was.
“Thank you.” I put my hands around Ledger and our children and thought back to when Vince had died. I’d never imagined that the universe would send me someone else to love, someone who adored my children like I did and as Vince had done.
He'd be happy for us, my dragon mused.
I think you’re right.
Fraser insisted the large dragon sit in the middle seat where the baby's car seat would go, but I told him to lean the toy to the right because it blocked my view.
Ledger sighed as he looked at his list. “We didn’t get everything.”
“Maybe we can come back on Monday.” I lowered my voice. “When it’ll be just us two.”
“But we’ll be at school,” Rory protested.
“Oh, no.” Ledger giggled. “Don’t worry. Daddy will video the shopping expedition, and you can watch when you get home.”
“Boring,” Fraser announced, and the other two agreed.
The kids hurried off to the playroom when we got home, while my mate and I washed and dried the baby clothes. Rory had already moved into the guest bedroom on the third floor, and his former room was now the nursery.
Ledger folded the clothes and placed them on shelves and into drawers. I helped the boys carry the pink dragon and the monster truck onto the second floor, and they chose where to position them. Skye said she’d keep the wind-up toy in her room and would bring it here when the baby asked for it.
Fraser picked up a carefully folded onesie and placed it against his chest.
“You used to wear a onesie just like that. Come with me.” Everyone followed me into Ledger’s and my room, and we piled on the bed as I brought out the photo albums.
“You look funny.” Skye pointed to baby Fraser covered in mud as he sat in the garden.
We flicked through the pages of pics with the kids in the bath—the water was always much hotter than for human babies—playing in the garden, and reading books. They ran their fingers over photos of Vince holding and feeding them.
“I wish Papa was here too.” Rory was the only one with vague memories of Vince.
“He is in a way,” Ledger pointed out. “He carried all of you in his tummy, just like this baby.” He patted his belly. “So part of him is in part of you.”
I choked back tears because that was the perfect explanation. Vince would always be part of us and with us.
“Maybe we can order a new photo album online for the baby.” Ledger reached for his phone.
“With a dragon on the cover.” Fraser grinned.